Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 12 Aug 2011

Our popular news catch-up service is posted Monday to Friday at 8.0am. You can rely on it to keep you up to date through the working day with the main news talking points. MARKETS REACT WELL TO SHORT SELLING BANEuropean markets appeared to react favourably to the ban on the short-selling of financial shares by France, Italy, Spain and Belgium on Thursday. The move was designed to cool volatility, with markets nervous about eurozone government debt. After initial falls, London's FTSE 100, Paris's Cac and Frankfurt's Dax all rose in the afternoon. In the US the Dow Jones opened higher. Italy, Spain, Belgium and France ban short-selling POLICE ATTACK GOVERNMENT OVER RIOT CRITICISMSSir Hugh Orde, head of the Association of Chief Police Officers, has hit back at David Cameron after criticism of the police response to this week's riots. He said polticians intervention in the operation was "an irrelevance". Met chief Tim Goodwin also attacked MPs and said: "People will always make comments who weren't there." The Mole: odds shorten on Boris leading the Tories MURDER HUNT LAUNCHED AS Fifth RIOT VICTIM DIESScotland Yard launched a murder hunt last night as Richard Mannington Bowes, 68, died in hospital from head injuries received when he was beaten by rioters in Ealing on Monday night. In the Commons, David Cameron admitted that initial police tactics had been "wrong" and announced a crackdown on facemasks. Riots and the Underclass - the view from America Heroics and horror stories: the human cost of the riots SYRIA LAUNCHES NEW CRACKDOWN ON PROTESTORSThe Syrian regime appears to have launched a new offensive against dissidents ahead of planned protests after prayers on Friday. Activists told the BBC that troops had opened fire on protestors in the city of Deir al-Zour and attacked the northwestern town of Kahn Sheikhun. US secretary of state Hillary Clinton had earlier called for wider international sanctions against Syria. BREIVIK 'HORRIFIED' by SHOOTINGSNorwegian mass-murderer Anders Behring Breivik told a police psychologist that he felt "horrified" as he began his massacre on the island of Utoeya last month. But he later admitted to Asbjorn Rachlew that he felt satisfaction that his mission had been a success. His shooting spree at a summer camp left 69 young people dead. Anders Breivik ‘horrified’ during Utoeya massacre COOK PILEs ON THE MISERY FOR INDIAAlistair Cook passed his highest Test score of 235 and Eoin Morgan scored a century as England built up a huge lead against India in the third Test at Edgbaston. England's progress was hindered by rain showers and bad light, but such was their dominance that they remain favourites to win the Test and take over at the top of the rankings from India. AMERICANS LINE UP FOR 'PIPPA BUTT LIFT'A US plastic surgeon says he has been inundated with requests from women to give them a bottom like Pippa Middleton's. 'Gluteal sculpting' expert Constantino G Mendieta told the Times that the 'Pippa butt lift' was the latest craze in America. Previously his clients had hankered for a larger rear, like those of Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez. TEXAS GOVERNOR PERRY TO CONFIRM WHITE HOUSE RUN Texas Governor Rick Perry, robustly to the right of his predecessor President George W Bush, will join the race to become Republican presidential nominee in 2012 on Saturday, his spokesman indicated last night. He will make an announcement in Iowa as Republican rivals take part in straw polls in the state where next year's primaries begin. GEORGE SOROS ACCUSED OF SLAPPING GIRLFRIENDGeorge Soros, the 81-year-old investor and philanthropist worth $14.5 billion, was yesterday accused in a lawsuit of slapping a girlfriend 50 years his junior, and cheating her out of a promised $1.7m Manhattan flat. His lawyers concede that he had a "non-exclusive relationship" with Adriana Ferreyr, a Brazilian soap star, but say he "did not slap, choke or throw a lamp at her". Soros tried to choke me, says Brazilian girlfriend Dougherty gang in court in coloradoThe Dougherty gang, led by Florida stripper Lee Grace, have appeared in court in Colorado charged with attempted murder and assault following their dramatic capture on Wednesday, during which Lee Grace was shot in the leg. She and her brothers Dylan and Ryan Dougherty had been on the run since last week and are accused of holding up a bank. Lee Grace Dougherty gang charged in Colorado

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up